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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth frame single, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they returned to the AL Championship Series for the first time in two dozen years.

Defensive Mastery on Display

George Springer launched a homer on the opening delivery from Bryce Miller, who then got out of a bases-threatening situation in a 27-delivery first inning. Anthony Santander singled in the second inning for Toronto’s only other hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. The pitching quartet joined forces to throw just 100 deliveries under two days after the Mariners needed 209 pitches to outlast Detroit over 15 frames.

Key Offensive Moments

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, tied the score in the sixth inning with his ninth homer in 14 games at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman had held batters to 0 for 16 on splitters in the postseason before the homer by Raleigh.

Polanco hit a go-ahead single later in the inning and added an RBI single in the eighth inning.

“We’re a tough team, as you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh said. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They were outstanding. Particularly on short rest and how many pitches they threw the previous game.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder journeyed to AL East winner Toronto on Saturday after a 3-2 home victory over the Detroit Tigers to win the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in Major League Baseball history.

Historic Accomplishments

The Mariners, the sole MLB franchise to never host a Fall Classic game, limited Toronto to just two hits after the Blue Jays had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game Division Series against the Yankees. Miller, the winner, struck out three and walked three in six innings, throwing 72 deliveries. The bullpen trio each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz getting the save.

“This will be a fiercely contested series, man,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “Our team will be prepared for it.”

Springer’s 21st postseason home run broke a tie with the Derek Jeter of the Yankees, placing him alone in fifth position on the all-time list. Raleigh’s homer was his fourth in 15 at-bats against Gausman, who suffered the defeat.

Polanco, who had the game-ending single Friday, singled against Brendon Little to bring home Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by Gausman. Polanco later added another run-scoring hit against Seranthony Domínguez.

Memorable Game Moments

Eugenio Suárez hit a double off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh inning against Louis Varland. The 395-foot hit would have been a home run in half of MLB stadiums, Seattle’s field included.

Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes left in the fourth inning. Lukes sustained a right knee bruise when he fouled a ball into his knee in the first inning.